With the Kindness of Your Heart
by anothermevalerie
Summary: Kurt was just going to buy a cat for Carole's birthday... he never expected to find the love of his life! AU- Blaine volunteers at the animal shelter.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, kid."

Kurt turned around at sound of his father's voice. "Yeah?" He asked, a little puzzled. His dad normally wasn't one for dawdling after breakfast.

"I got a favour to ask." Burt Hummel said, shifting slightly from foot to foot.

Curiouser and curiouser. This most definitely wasn't normal. "Sure, what is it?"

"Next week is... Carole's birthday, and I want to do something nice for her..." He said, trailing of awkwardly to the end.

"Oookay?" Kurt wasn't quite sure where Burt was going with this. His father was possibly one of the most awkward individuals to have ever walked the planet, but this was strange even for him.

"And- well, I just wanted to... You know... do something, I mean. I wanted to—um..."

Kurt decided to help his poor dad out. "I'm going to assume you wanted to do something nice for her, yes?"

"Yeah," Burt replied, obviously relieved that Kurt had caught on. "Yeah, exactly, but I need your help, kid."

...

Carole Hudson was probably the most caring woman Kurt had ever met. Even before she started dating his dad, Kurt had known the extent of her kindness. She volunteered at the local soup kitchen, and helped out at Lima's local kindergarten whenever she could. At every charity event, you could be sure to see her there, either giving her time to make sure things ran smoothly, or holding a fundraiser to benefit the cause. So when Kurt introduced her to his dad, he was sure he was making the right choice. Carole would never be Elizabeth Hummel, but she was still Kurt's mom in every meaning of the word.

So while Burt was out planning Carole's party using the meticulous instructions which Kurt had written out, the younger Hummel was making the long drive to the animal shelter.

When the Hudsons had first moved in, Kurt's dad had taken Finn out to a football game for some father-son bonding while Carole and Kurt spent some time getting to know one another. In a town as small as Lima, everyone knew everyone's business, but not everyone actually _knew_ everyone. So while they were pretty familiar each other, Kurt had struggled to find a way to actually connect with his stepmother. It had been uncomfortable for a few hours; the two of them sitting on the couch, watching some dreary sitcom, and making meaningless small talk.

It was then that Kurt pulled out _Apples to Apples_.

Quite honestly, that board game had probably saved millions of social lives. In a snap, the awkward tension in the air had disappeared as Kurt and Carole started laughing more and more at the ridiculous cards which were used.

It was pretty much the one of the best family nights Kurt had ever had.

...

Carole loved cats. That was the first thing that Kurt had discovered when they had played _Apples to Apples_. It had been that night that Kurt made a mental note to himself to get her a kitten for her birthday. And so here Kurt was, standing in front of Lima's local animal shelter, staring down a long row of hissing felines, and looking for Carole's present.

He shuddered as he passed row after row of metal cages. Kurt liked cats, as well. Who couldn't? They were the picture of grace and elegance- two things Kurt loved to see in animals. It also didn't hurt that they could be the most affectionate fur balls on earth, sometimes. Simply put, Kurt thought cats were nice in general. But the cats at the shelter? None of them seemed right. Carole was made up of warmth and happiness, and these cats just seemed to be plain mean.

Kurt needed to find the perfect match. He walked back to the front of the large, dingy room which served as the animal shelter.

"Excuse me?" He asked, trying to get the attention of the shabby secretary who was sitting at the desk.

The lady looked up, her beady eyes fixating on Kurt. "What do you want?"

Kurt winced at the scratchy voice. Imagine that voice in Glee. Honestly, it was worse than Sugar's. He shook the thought away, choosing to focus on his task. "Do you happen to have any other cats besides the ones out there?"

The lady shook her head a little too quickly. "No, but the ones over there are really sweet. Look again; I'm sure you'll find one."

Kurt eyed her suspiciously, unconvinced, but sighed and walked back. It was hopeless. He couldn't give one of these to Carole- they were just too mean. He decided to check one last time. If it didn't work out, he'd check another shelter.

He walked through the maze of cages again, dismissing most of the cats right away. At the end of the row, one kitten caught Kurt's eye. She was tiny and perfectly white with a small smudge of black in the centre of her forehead. Kurt let out a soft _awww_ and in a flash, she was up, baring her teeth at him, fur standing straight up, and eyes narrowed. It was so entirely unexpected that Kurt nearly fell over.

As it happened, he knocked over a couple buckets and a mop before managing to regain his balance, the result of which was a few moments of deafening clanging. _Oops._

"You okay over there?"

Kurt turned his head at the sound of the friendly voice, and before he even had the chance to say a word, his eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped.

Dark, curly hair, bright hazel eyes, an oh-so-beautiful smile- he was, to put it simply, perfect.

"Uh, I... um..." He stuttered as his mind played back one thought over and over. _No one should be allowed to look that hot in overalls._

**a/n**

**How much do I suck at updating my fics!? Sigh. Anyhow, not sure if this is just a one-shot or a fic or what. I've given up on actually planning these things out. For those of you who read my other two stories- I'm working, promise. Spanish final day after tomorrow and then I'll be free. Yay! Anyhow, ya'll should send me prompts for one-shots cause those are SO much fun to do. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt prided himself on his composure. He could deal with almost anything (including the entire Glee club) without losing a drop of common sense. But somehow, bright eyes and infectious smiles had never been factored into the equation, because dear god, the man in front of Kurt could probably end wars with a single flash of those beautiful pearly teeth.

Simply put, Kurt was in love. He could practically see himself heating up with embarrassment under the man's concerned gaze. _Say something, Kurt. Say something!_ He urged himself, but it was to no avail. Somehow, his normal confident, sarcastic self had flown out the room the moment he saw those eyes that were staring at him that very moment.

"Excuse me?" Blaine repeated the question, but again, Kurt could do nothing but stare. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was blatantly checking the guy out, but he couldn't bring himself to care. _Hot damn_.

"Sir? Are you alright?"

This time, the question got through, and Kurt snapped back into reality, processing the question but still taking the opportunity to run his eyes appreciatively over the man's slightly muscled arms. "It's Kurt." He said distractedly.

"What?"

"Not sir, it's Kurt. My name is Kurt."

"Um, hi Kurt, I'm Blaine. I saw you fall over there, are you alright? How do you feel?"

_Well-mannered, too_. Kurt thought with approval. It wasn't often that you met a guy that was attractive _and_ classy. Blaine... The name ran through Kurt's mind as he answered. "Like putty." Immediately, he bit his tongue, wishing he could have taken the words back.

"Like putty? Blaine repeated confusion evident in his tone. "What?"

"Never mind!" Kurt blurted out, desperate to say anything that could possibly fix the situation. "Do you have any cats!?"

A silence followed that statement. Kurt was not happy with himself. First being uncharacteristically clumsy, then coming out with a bad case of word vomit, and finally not being able to get himself out of the bad situation. And of course, all of this in front of a hot guy.

"Cats?" Blaine asked. "You mean, do I own any?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, do you have any here? At the shelter?"

"Yes?" Blaine answered, confusion evident in his voice as he glanced around at the cat cages that surrounded them. "We have tons of cats out here."

But Kurt was lost again. Just looking at Blaine scratching his head and scrunching up his nose in uncertainty was far more than Kurt could possibly handle. Could a man look any cuter when confused? Sure Blaine was attractive, but he was more than that. He was just downright _adorable._ And of course, the scruffy hair that stuck up all over just made him look that much more endearing- it was almost sinful how good Blaine looked.

Sighing, Kurt shook himself out of his daydream. "I need a pretty cat." He stated. "These ones are just downright terrifying."

Blaine looked at him for a moment and then nodded. "Well then, at your service, good sir." He chirped happily, adding a quick bow to top it off. "Right this way." And with that, he turned away and started down a hallway.

Frozen in shock, Kurt stared at Blaine's retreating back for a moment before hurrying after; all the while biting his lip to keep from laughing at the absolutely ridiculous show that he had just been subjected to. _Yup._ He thought to himself. _Definitely a keeper._

Half an hour later, Kurt was on the floor, surrounded by kittens, and practically in tears. "I can't pick just one!" He cried out, looking at all the bundles of fur around him. "They're all so adorable!"

Blaine smiled, holding a grey and white kitten up for him to see. "How about this one?"

Kurt glared at him. "Not helping." He muttered angrily.

Blaine put the kitten down and walked over to him, making sure not to step on anything as he did so. "Calm down, Kurt- aren't you putting aside the ones you like?"

"Yeah, but I like all of them! What am I supposed to do now?"

"Just keep looking."

Kurt huffed before getting up and surveying all the kittens once more. "Why are all of these guys back here, anyway? Why aren't they in the front for adoption?"

Blaine sighed, shaking his head. "Marge wants the older cats to be adopted first."

"Marge?" Kurt questioned, hesitantly.

"You know, old geezer type, scratchy voice, etcetera?"

"Ah." Kurt looked down. It didn't seem fair to force a hard life on these kittens just because the others weren't being adopted.

"I just hate it." Blaine's quiet voice cut through the air. "I hate how they're just left in the backroom, meant to gather dust. They could have had better lives. Maybe they would have all been adopted by now. Maybe they could have been happy." The last part was said so quietly that Kurt felt he shouldn't have heard it- but he did. And though Blaine wouldn't meet Kurt's gaze, Kurt knew that there was more to the boy in front of him.

Kurt looked at him- the contrast between his dark curly hair, and his tan, clean shaven face; the difference between his large muscular hands, and the tiny, soft white kitten he held in his arms; the comparison between his strong, sturdy profile, and the small dingy room they were in. And for the first time, Kurt came to wonder why exactly Blaine was at the animal shelter on the weekend.

**a/n**

**Well. It took me long enoough, don't you think? But I did it! I uploaded! I was lucky and got hit with a bit of inspiration this evening so thank goodness for that! Hopefully When You're Gone will be following but we'll see. I don't know if I mentioned before, but this story is going to be in very, very short parts. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading!**


End file.
